Violet
Planning for the royal wedding was well underway and flourishes were being added to the kingdom to make it the perfect place to wed.
"This will bring so much life back into the kingdom." Isla held my hands adoringly. "And look at your beautiful husband-to-be. He fits right in here." She turned to watch him and I turned my head to join her gaze as Louie laughed with Marko - a merman who was nice, but I hadn't gotten to know that well. So often you live with people, pass them every day and exist within society with them, but never really get to know them on a deeper level. I make a mental note to get to know him better. I was pulled out of the thought by Isla whose breathing started to quicken. "Are you okay?" I breathed, knowing full well what was happening.
"I'm cramping up." We both looked down at her belly as a footprint emerged on her skin. A footprint, not a small baby fin. We both gasped. "Where is the baby's... tail?" the words came out as a whisper as the realization dawned on me. "Ilsa... you said your husband died... where did he die exactly?"
"On land..." she choked out the words as groans enveloped them.
A shiver went down my spine and moved my entire body in a wave. Now was not the time to think about the possibilities of what this baby would become. This baby was coming... now.
"Come to my bed." I urged her along hastily, remembering suddenly, the events that took place a month earlier, following my engagement. I blushed at the thought. A shrill scream brings me back. "Get this baby out!"
With that, Louie and Marko both swim after us and take Isla's weight, carrying her to the short distance where my bed lives, and placing her onto it. She groans and heaves, thrashing around on the bed and entirely replacing the thoughts in my brain of this bed being tied to any other event. Both Louie and Marko sooth Isla, aiding her in pushing out this baby - gently placing hands on her belly and guiding the baby out as I watch in amazement, sliding my fingers through her hair in an effort to calm her, but really, it was me that I was calming. I watched Louie in awe as he helped Isla bring life back into Islanda. Mermen had a natural instinct when it came to birthing children. My father had helped my mother in birthing my sisters and myself and now I got to watch that first hand. Five pushes later and a human was born. Louie held the baby up, "It's a boy." Isla sobbed.
"It's a human..." Marko and Louie looked at eachother wide eyed as the words slipped from Marko's lips. But what had me, was that this bed was the first to touch new life and my husband to be was the second. My heart swooned. What a man...
The wedding planning was a whirlwind. We had everyone working together to make the kingdom the perfect place to be for a royal wedding. "What headdress are you going to wear?" Isla asked, her new baby human in her arms. She was swanning around as I decorated the place.
"Something extravagant." I said "I need him to be certain that I am the only woman for him and beauty is the way to a man's heart. Speaking of which..." I turned to her, my focus changing, "who was your husband Isla?" her face drained of color. Her husband was a forbidden topic when my father was around. He had died and that was all that we knew of him. I looked at her darling child. His very human feet had not at all changed to resemble fins. Though he did have gills, so that was something. He was very interesting. Our gills were camouflaged by our tails, but since he didn't have one, well... They were very visible. It was a strange sight to see. His reddish- brown hair curled on the ends and his lips pouted, sending us into fits of giggles often. "Your father swore me to secrecy." She tried to push away from the topic.
"Daddy isn't here anymore. I am your queen now Isla. You must tell me who this baby's father is." She was my friend, but in this moment I think it dawned on her, that above being her friend, I was her queen and she needed to respect me.
Her eyes dropped and her mouth turned down, pulling at my heartstrings. I felt a rush of sympathy - I didn't like to use my title to intimidate people, especially not my friends, but I needed to know, both for curiosity reasons and so that I could help her if it ever came to it.
"His name was Lile." She wouldn't meet my eyes. She was ashamed, I could see that much.
"And where was he from?" I coaxed her words...
"He was a sailor." She said after a long pause.
"A sailor? Isla, they are very dangerous..." I had chills running up my body. I wasn't sure why, since I too had been in the company of a human, and a faery, yet somehow, I thought sailors were a different breed of people. They were dangerous - I had heard the rumors.
"Yes, but he wasn't. He was kind and loving, and so handsome." She was trying to convince me that she wasn't in the wrong.
I felt the air pull from my body. I couldn't speak. Leila held her baby so close to her, like she thought I was going to snach him away for being half human. Of Course, I would never do that. I let her words marinate from several minutes before I found my words again. "People are going to ask why he doesn't have a tail." I let my words float over to her from where I was sitting, on my throne. Until now, I had kept her busy with wedding planning, so no one had so much as gotten a close look, and if they had, they respected the old rules. However, with the wedding approaching, Louie's family would come in from other places and guests may come from other cities. It could be a chance to requite new mer for our city, to help build it up again.
"I know." She whispered sadly.
"If only he wasn't dead." my words were going to be harsh but they had purpose.
"What are you suggesting?" Her sadness turned to hurt... anger.
"Well, he wouldn't be so criticized... you wouldn't either, if he lived on land."
"With gills?" Are you kidding me? A human with gills would be ostracized and possibly killed... especially in the world of a pirate." she was shouting now. I was about to speak, when she tossed an insult my way; "You are one to speak... you had a human of your own! Don't think everyone doesn't know about your little stunt, bringing that human down here." I gasped, looking at Louie. He was staring straight at me... he had heard everything. I glared at Isla who was swimming away. Yeah, you better swim. Louie stayed completely unmoving, "I need time to think." he said before he shot off into the other direction.
"Great! Now look at what you've done! He's going to call off the wedding." I whispered angrily toward Isla.
